Thursday, September 06, 2007

Steve Schnier at the Toronto International Film Festival

Steve Schnier, caricatured at left by Peter Emslie, has a long history in the animation industry, including creating the series Freaky Stories. Steve is somebody willing to go out on a limb. Where other people dream, Steve hustles.

Steve's latest project is a feature film made from home movies that he bought on Ebay called Pubic Lice: The Motion Picture. The budget? $4,000. You can read all about it and see some clips here.

Steve is not only attending the Toronto International Film Festival searching for a distributor, he's also writing a daily column for Canada's National Post newspaper all week, detailing his experiences. I believe that this is the first article.

To be honest, I'll probably hate this movie. It's just not what I look for in a film. But having said that, I think that Steve was absolutely right to take a chance on this and push it as far as he can. Steve doesn't give his ideas away. He markets them. He's not afraid to get meetings or to pitch at the slightest opportunity. The future is always going to belong to corporations, but we're living in a time where there are ways to publicize your ideas that didn't exist in the past and because of that, the future is also going to belong to people like Steve. If you've got ideas, great! Now think of ways to market them.

Thirty years hence, an older, distinguished, and infinitely richer Steve Schnier, reflecting on the half-vast empire that he's built up, turns to the camera and says, "I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a louse"

Steve, the main reason I post here on Mark's blog is for the high-paying work that inevitably comes my way. Actually, it's a case of mistaken identity, as Mark and I look a little alike, so the client thinks they're dealing with Mark. One time the prospective client, still mistakingly thinking I was Mark, said I looked a little different than he had remembered. Thinking fast, I assured him that it was just because I'd lost a little height from dieting. Mark doesn't know this yet, but there was an additional season of "Monster by Mistake" that I produced behind his back before the client ever got wise...

Y'know, I had the same problem. I was working at a studio in town and there was a certain girl. But she always looked different. One day she'd be tall and the next day she's be short and wear glasses. Turns out there were two girls with the same first name. Took a while for me to catch on...

About Me

I've worked as an animator, writer, producer and director in TV animation for 29 years. I created the cgi series Monster By Mistake.
I hold a Masters degree from York University in Cinema and Media Studies and am currently teaching animation at Sheridan College.
I can be contacted at mark(dot)mayerson(at)sheridanc(dot)on(dot)ca.